Migrant care workers and their future in the UK context

Recruiting and retaining quality care staff is one of the main challenges facing the care sector. The home care workforce has one of the highest rates of turnover and vacancy rates in the British economy. About 15% of those employed in the home care workforce are migrant workers, with large regional variations (the per- centage is considerably higher in London and the South East). The demand for home care workers is likely to increase due to population ageing and growing demand for long term care. • The UK’s referendum on European Union membership in June 2016 produced a 52% vote for ‘leave’, and negotiations are currently under way on the conditions for ‘Brexit’. It is likely that the outcomes of these will fundamentally alter existing policies, rules and patterns of workforce migration, while the free movement of labour from the EU / EEA will end. In this case, and with the current level of migrant workers in the care sector, existing UK work visa schemes would be unable to satisfy demand. • This Policy Perspective provides insight from expert contributors on these issues (based on a Round Table discussion on 19th June 2018) and makes recommendations relevant to policymakers, care sector employers and researchers in the Sustainable Care programme. It considers the potential advantages and disadvan- tages of existing work visa and migrant worker schemes from the perspective of the home care sector and highlights some of the risks associated with restricted migrant workers’ rights post-Brexit.